Pierrepont School, Frensham, originally known as Pierrepont House School, was a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, with day pupils as well as boarders. Founded in 1947 as a school for boys, it became

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

in 1983 and closed in 1993.

History

Pierrepont House School was founded in 1947 as an independent school for boys by its first headmaster, Thomas Joyce Parry. The following year Parry established a school

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, and normally includes Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to "provide a ...

, with himself as its commanding officer, and became known in the school as 'Major Parry'. He had served in the British Army in both the 1st and 2nd World War. This distinguished him from his son Thomas Parry who joined the staff after returning to England in 1947 after serving in India as an officer in the 4th Battalion the

9th Gurkha Rifles The 9th Gorkha Rifles is a Gorkha infantry regiment of the Indian Army and, previously, the British Army. The regiment was initially formed by the British in 1817, and was one of the Gurkha regiments transferred to the Indian Army after independe ...

. The CCF, or 'Corps', became the heart of the school's ethos. In 1970 the original

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

section was joined by a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

section and in 1983 by a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

section.Pierrepont School, Frensham
at exploringsurreyspast.org.uk, accessed 5 July 2011 The school's main building was a 19th-century

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peop ...

Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the ...

around an earlier house. In 1973 this was

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

as Grade II*. The school's aim for its boys – and for its girls from 1983 onwards – was to give them a good all-round education while developing character through sports and other outdoor activities, and its

syllabus A syllabus (; plural ''syllabuses'' or ''syllabi'') or specification is a document that communicates information about an academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curric ...

included adventure training, leadership, and personal survival. Like most British independent schools, it was divided into houses, all with names recalling military history: Agincourt, Trafalgar, and Waterloo. Day houses took the names of men associated with the school's architecture and design: initially there were two, Shaw and Combe Houses, and later a third day house, Birch, was added. In the late 1980s the school ran into financial difficulties. In 1989 it took over St George's Preparatory School, Farnham, and at about the same time built a new craft, technology and design centre, but these added to its financial problems. In the economic downturn of the 1990s, parental opinion lost confidence in the school's focus on character-building at the expense of academic studies. In 1992, in an article entitled "The public schools that come bottom", ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' reported that - The school closed in 1993. Pierrepont School Trust Limited, an educational charity connected with the school, was created in 1966 and dissolved in 1996. The school's former premises were bought by Ellel Ministries International and became the home of the new Ellel Pierrepont Centre.

Motto

The school's

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

, ''a posse ad esse'', is drawn from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

philosophical principle "''Ab esse ad posse valet, a posse ad esse non-valet consequentia''", meaning "It is valid to conclude from actuality to possibility, but not from possibility to actuality".

Headmasters

*1947–1955: Thomas Joyce Parry *1955–1962: Nicholas A. Dromgoole, later Ballet correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', married

Lesley Collier Lesley Faye Collier (born 13 March 1947) is an English ballerina and teacher of dance. In 1972 she became a principal dancer of the Royal Ballet. In 1995 she left the company and began to teach at the Royal Ballet School. She is a rèpetiteur a ...

, Principal ballerina of the Royal Ballet in Q4. 1977 in London *1962–1983: Anthony George Hill (7 April 1926 - Q1, 1983) (died in office)Pierrepont School, Frensham, 1947–1993
at exploringsurreyspast.org.uk, accessed 5 July 2011 *1983–1992: John Payne *1993: Nigel Taylor

Notable Old Pierrepontians

Michael Baden-Powell, 4th Baron Baden-Powell David Michael Baden-Powell, 4th Baron Baden-Powell (born 11 December 1940, Sinoia, Rhodesia) is a former accountant and insurance sales agent. Due to his eccentric nighttime activities, he has been described by some commentators as the "Hann ...

and Scouting Leader * Sir Merrick Cockell, Conservative politician *

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the w ...

, rugby player *

Mark Williams-Thomas Mark Alan Williams-Thomas (born 9 January 1970) is an English investigative journalist, sexual abuse victim advocate, and former police officer. He is a regular reporter on '' This Morning'' and Channel 4 News, as well as the ITV series ''Expos ...

, Investigative TV reporter

References

External links

Pierrepont School, Frensham, c. 1965
at francisfrith.com (photograph)
Historic Environment Record, with aerial photograph
at exploringsurreyspast.org.uk {{authority control Boys' schools in Surrey Boarding schools in Surrey Educational institutions established in 1947 Defunct schools in Surrey 1993 disestablishments in England 1947 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 1993 Grade II* listed buildings in Surrey Richard Norman Shaw buildings